Technology – Page 11 – The Logical Blog

July 17, 2013

Adobe Captivate: Anchors Away?

by Kevin Siegel

You've seen them… and you've ignored them. But what, exactly, are they? I'm referring to those pesky red arrows you often see to the right of objects on the Timeline.

The red arrows indicate that the Timeline object is anchored to the end of the slide's play time. In the image below, all three of the Timeline objects are anchored to the END of the slide.

Adobe Captivate: The red arrow indicates that the object is anchored to the end of the slide's playtime.

The red arrow (anchor) will automatically appear any time you stretch the right edge of an object on the Timeline right and bump up against the word END. The word END indicates the moment in time when all of the action on the slide has concluded. Unless something has been added to the slide to override the default behavior, once END has been reached, the next slide on the Filmstrip will appear.

So now that you know what the red arrows mean, I bet you're wondering if anchoring an object to the END of a slide is good or bad.

Personally, I don't like the anchors. Why? Try this experiment: Go to any slide in your project and create an anchor. Next, extend the play time for the slide by four or five seconds (on the Timeline, drag the right edge of the slide's object to the right). As you drag, notice that the anchored objects move to the right and end at the slide's new end time.

Adobe Captivate: Extending a slide's playtime also alters the appear time for the objects.

But look at the left edge of those objects (the left edge is when the objects will appear on the slide). You'll notice that the Appear After timing has changed–something that most Captivate developers don't want to happen every time the timing for a slide is adjusted.

What's a Captivate developer to do? Since the anchors will appear every time an object touches the END of a slide's timing and you can't disable the anchors, you'll need to perform a quick workaround. (Okay, so maybe the term workaround is a bit harsh. Anchors aren't a bug in Captivate; they're a feature.). Simply select all of the slide's objects, right-click and choose Show for the rest of the slide. If you extend the play time for a slide now, the slide's objects will extend as if they were anchored but their start times will not change. Nice!

If you would like to see object anchors in action, check out the video I created on the IconLogic YouTube channel.

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Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

July 12, 2013

“Adobe Captivate 7: The Essentials” Workbook Now Available

I'm happy to report that my newest book, "Adobe Captivate 7: The Essentials" is now available for purchase. A hard copy of the book can be purchased directly from IconLogic's website.

"Adobe Captivate 7: The Essentials" is a self-paced training manual that teaches the core Adobe Captivate skills needed to create interactive eLearning and mLearning content. By following step-by-step instructions, you will learn how to record and produce software demonstrations, interactive training simulations, and soft skills training. You’ll learn how to control the mouse pointer and add such standard objects as text captions, images, and highlight boxes. You’ll learn to record, import and edit audio, and further enhance the learner experience by adding interactivity via click boxes, buttons and text entry boxes. You’ll learn to leverage and enrich existing Microsoft PowerPoint presentations by importing and linking into new or existing Captivate projects. Finally, you’ll learn to publish your project in SWF and HTML5 formats so that your content can be uploaded to a web server for consumption on virtually any device, including the iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices.

If you prefer a digital version of the book that you can download immediately, you have three options:

June 26, 2013

Adobe Captivate: Learner Notes

by Kevin Siegel

Thanks to a really slick interaction found in the new Adobe Captivate 7, you can allow learners to add notes throughout an eLearning lesson. The notes added by the learner will be available even after the learner closes and then returns to the lesson down the road.

To add learner notes, open or create a project in Adobe Captivate 7. Select the first slide and choose Insert > Interactions.

Select the Notes Interaction and click the Insert button to open the Configuration interaction screen.

Adobe Captivate 7: Notes Interaction.

I went with the Default Notes Icon. If you're not a fan of the default image (shown in the screen capture below), you can elect to use a Transparent Icon and simply position the interaction over your own image on the slide.

Adobe Captivate 7: Configure the Notes interaction.

After clicking OK to dismiss the Configure interaction screen, position the interaction on the slide. On the Timeline, ensure that the Notes interaction is the top-most object.

Adobe Captivate 7: Ensure that the Notes Interaction is the top-most object on the Timeline.

On the Timing group, set the Display For time to Rest of Project.

Adobe Captivate 7: Set the Timing for the Notes Interaction to Show for the Rest of the Project.

And that's it. Once the lesson is published, learners will be able to click the Note icon on any slide and add their notes. And as I mentioned earlier, they'll be able to review the notes later (even after closing and re-opening the lesson).

Adobe Captivate 7: Add a Slide Note.

Note: Don't resize or add Effects to a Notes interaction. Doing so may diminish the appearance of the interaction and/or cause it to not work at all.

If you would like to see a demonstration of the Notes interaction, check out this video on the IconLogic YouTube channel.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate training? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

May 24, 2013

Localization: Writing for Translation

by Jen Weaver

Have you ever borrowed someone else's notes to try to study for an exam or understand a topic? You probably found that it was more difficult to fully grasp a concept when using someone else's thoughts. You might have spent a great deal of time trying to navigate new abbreviations, note-taking styles and the nuances of the author–and missed a key concept. Translated materials can have the same uncomfortable feel to the Limited English Proficient (LEP) reader when the source document is not written with an LEP audience in mind.

Experienced translation professionals know that sculpting written content into another language is best accomplished with documents written with the understanding that they will eventually be translated into other languages. Here are some tips on creating content ready for translation:

Use numbered or bulleted lists rather than lengthy paragraphs of text.
Avoid using slang. It will not often translate well between languages and will date your materials when used in the future.
Break up lengthy phrases.
Avoid embedding text in graphics when possible. Embedded text requires that the graphics are recreated when translated, resulting in a higher cost. When possible, it's better to place text labels under graphics rather than inside of them.
Limit the use of screen shots unless you want to have those re-created and translated as well.
Try and use location and cultural neutral images. This includes ambiguous ethnicity for people and locales that can relate to many countries or areas.
Leave white space in the English files to allow for text expansion when the file is translated.
Concise, straightforward content is best. Plus, translation is billed per word, so short simple text will also save you money in translation.
If reading level is a concern, keep this in mind when writing the English copy. It is very difficult to translate materials into a different reading level than the source copy.

Following these simple guidelines for translation will allow your LEP audience to focus on the important things you have to say.

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

May 21, 2013

Adobe Captivate: Repurpose Preferences

by Kevin Siegel

Have you ever visited the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Captivate (Windows users, Edit > Preferences; Mac users, Adobe Captivate > Preferences), made several changes and later, maybe months later, needed those settings on another computer running Captivate? I'm betting your answer is yes, and you've had a tough time ensuring the Preferences in one project match those in another.

When I teach Adobe Captivate, I try to stress the value of creating a project template (and creating templates from scratch is a big part of my Captivate 6 Advanced class). If you set the Preferences within a Captivate template and then use the template when you create new projects, the Preferences will match from one project to the next. However, you can create perfectly nice Captivate projects without a template. In that case, understanding how get Preferences from one project into another is useful.

For instance, in the images below, I accessed the Preferences dialog box and set the Preferences on some of the screens.

In the Project Information area, I added information about the Author (Biff, as usual, gets all the credit around here), Company name, Project Name and the Description.

In the SWF Size and Quality area, I set the quality to Medium.

From the Project Start and End area, I added the company logo as the Preloader, set the Preloader % to 50, enabled Fade In on the First Slide, and set the Project End Options.

I also visited the Publish Settings and changed the Frames Per Second to 20 (30 is the default) and disabled both Enable Accessibility and Play tap audio for recorded typing.

Setting each of the Preferences above wasn't difficult. In fact, it took perhaps 2-3 minutes to set everything. However, since having to memorize all of the settings isn't something I look forward to on a project-by-project basis, the ability to export this project's Preferences is going to be quite nice.

Export Project Preferences

Open a Captivate project and set your Preferences.
Choose File > Export > Preferences to open the Save As dialog box.
Pick a save destination for the Preferences file and, in the File Name field, give the file a name. (Note: The Preferences are exported as a .cpr file.)
Click Save.

Import Project Preferences

Open another Captivate project (or create a new project).
Choose File > Import > Preferences.
Locate and open the .cpr file you exported.

After the import process, browse the Preferences in the project. You'll notice that most (but not all) of the Preferences exported from the first project have been imported into the current project.

Note: If you'd like to see the process of working with a project's Preferences, check out my video demonstration on our YouTube channel.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate 6 classes each month includingIntroduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

July 17, 2012

Adobe Captivate 6: Become a Groupie!

It's such a small thing, but as a long-time Captivate user I have always been disappointed with the fact that there was no way to group slide objects. Sure, you can select multiple objects by [Shift]-clicking, but you have to repeat the selection process every time you want to do something to related objects. In a word, that's annoying!

As with many Captivate shortcomings, grouping is now available in Adobe Captivate 6. And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you can do with grouped objects.

Creating a group is simple. All you need to do is select two or more slide objects and choose Edit > Group. (Note: You can create multiple groups on a slide.)

Once you've created a group, take a look at the Propertiespanel and you will see a new Group area. Use the Name field to give your group a name.

Name a group.

My favorite thing about creating groups is the ability to quickly update all of the objects in the group. For instance, if you select a group on the Timeline and use the Properties panel to apply a different Style, every object in the group will take on the new style. Need to change the Timing for multiple objects? No problem. Group the objects and then, using the Timing group on the Properties panel, change the Timing as needed for the group.

Are you a grouping groupie yet? No? Okay… there's more. If you've got multiple groups on a slide, you can send one group behind (or in front of) another group by right-clicking (or dragging one group above another on the Timeline). You can make entire groups hidden on a slide by default and then, using Actions, make all kinds of objects appear (or disappear) on a slide.

You can duplicate groups, copy/paste groups to multiple slides, merge a group with a slide's background and even rotate groups. And if you get tired of the group, sure you can delete it, but you can Ungroup too (Edit > Ungroup).

I admit it, I'm a Captivate group groupie. Go ahead and give groups a whirl. I predict that you'll be a groupie too!

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? We offer two live, online Captivate 5 classes. Adobe Captivate Essentials and Adobe Captivate Beyond the Essentials (Advanced). Our Captivate 6 classes will ramp up in August.

September 20, 2011

Adobe Captivate: Quick Clicks and You’re Texting to Speech

by Kevin Siegel

The ability to convert text to speech using Captivate's built-in text to speech agents is awesome. All you need to do is select the slide note(s) you want to convert and then click the Text-to-Speech button.

Assuming you have installed NeoSpeech (a program that come with Captivate but needs to be installed manually), you will be able to choose from any one of five voices from the Speech Agent drop-down menu.

In addition to the five voices you get with Captivate, any voices that have already been installed on your computer will also appear in the Speech Agent drop-down menu. In the image below, Microsoft Anna, which comes with Windows, is also listed among the Speech Agents.

After selecting an agent, all you need to do is click the Generate Audio button to convert the selected text to an audio file. Simple! Of course, if you follow these simple steps, you won't get the agent you were hoping for in the generated audio.

In the image below, notice that I have selected Kate from the Speech Agent drop-down menu. However, Microsoft Anna is shown at the right of the dialog box. Most new Captivate developers (and even some vets) miss this little detail. If I were to click the Generate Audio button now, I'd end up with an audio file containing Microsoft Anna, not Kate.

Kate selected as the Speech Agent

There is one subtle thing you have to do before selecting an agent and then clicking the Generate Audio button: click just above the text you'd like to convert and ensure the space above the text turns gray (see the image below).

Kate re-selected as the Speech Agent.

If you miss this one simple click, you won't be using the agent you want… instead, you'll be using the default agent (which, as shown earlier, would have been Anna for me).

September 22, 2010

Technology: Is Your Cell Phone a Vampire?

by AJ George

After running a couple week's worth of tips for prolonging your Droid's battery life, I was approached with additional battery related topics. I wouldn't say I'm an authority on all things battery-related, but I was able to find a few resources on the topic that I'd like to share.

Is your cell phone sucking energy?

If you leave your cell phone plugged in all night to charge, even if it really only needs a few hours to fully charge, you're wasting energy, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, you are, but you probably aren't wasting enough energy to really make an impact on reducing your energy usage if you change your ways. The term for such unnecessary sucking of energy is called vampire draw.

This article does a good job explaining exactly how much energy is being burned up by leaving your cell phone (and other electronics) plugged in. Some highlights of the article:

If you leave your phone plugged in all night, every night for a year, you will be using 6.5 kWh of energy. Compared to the 4,000 kWh the average American uses each year, it's really kind of a drop in the bucket. If you'd like to do something little to make a bigger difference-swap one incandescent light bulb in your home for a fluorescent bulb and save yourself 126 kWh a year.

It is suggested that you unplug your phone's charger when it is not in use (because every little bit of energy you save helps, right?); but the article also pointed out how tiny of an impact unplugging will make. If you leave your charger plugged in the entire year (8,760 hours) you will only be using a total of 2.3 kWh of electricity–equivalent to the amount of energy you would save that year by skipping one hot bath.

The article goes on to cover iPod and laptop battery energy consumption, as well as if it is better to charge your devices in your car or in your house (spoiler: you're better off at home). It is definitely worth a read if you've ever pondered how your gadgets were affecting your energy consumption.

If you read the article and are still convinced that you should be more proactive about vampire draw, there are a few products that are specifically made to eliminate needless use of electricity, like this Volt-Star Eco-Charger.

The jury's still out on overcharging

Whether or not overcharging your cell phone's battery can cause the battery to lose its charge faster has been the subject of much debate. Most resources I found (like this one) said that today's gadgets are very difficult to overcharge and that any depletion in battery life you experience is due to regular wear and tear of the battery over time. Others swear that leaving their phones on the charger too long has led to a decrease in battery life as compared to when they only charged it long enough to reach full charge. I couldn't find any official sources stating that this was the case.

I charge my phone all night, every night and have not experienced any sort of loss in battery life, but I'd love to hear from you. Do you notice a difference in your phone's battery if you leave it on the charger for too long? Do you think that's all just hype and overcharging is a thing of the past? Leave your comments below.

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

September 16, 2010

Troublshooting Tips: Upgrading to Office 2010 for Windows XP Users

by AJ George

A couple weeks ago I upgraded from Microsoft Office 2007 to Microsoft Office 2010–at least I tried to upgrade. It seemed like a routine upgrade process until I tried to open Outlook 2010 and was greeted with a message saying something along the lines of "Please wait while Windows Configures Microsoft Office Single Image 2010."

I had no idea what the message meant, but it could not be ignored. I was able to get Outlook to open by starting in Safe Mode (which you can do by holding down the Control key on your keyboard as you start Outlook). Running Outlook in Safe Mode allowed me to do my work, but I had to remember to use Safe Mode every time I started Outlook and none of the customization I'd done to my preferences was functional.

After struggling with this problem for hours, I got in touch with Microsoft tech support. He went through my computer and deleted any remnants of legacy versions of Office, and spent hours doing who knows what else, but to no avail.

There is an option when installing Office 2010 to customize the upgrade process to only upgrade certain programs. Hypothetically I could have just upgraded everything except Outlook 2007. But, alas, Outlook was the only program I could not opt out of. Eventually I gave up on Microsoft support, uninstalled Office 2010 and just reinstalled 2007.

Two weeks later I was finally given a solution that I would like to pass along to anyone having this same Microsoft Outlook 2010 upgrade problem. The actual fix takes only minutes. All you need to do is download Microsoft Windows Search 4.0 for Windows XP (KB940157). Reinstall Office 2010. And you're done. Outlook 2010 (as well as the rest of the Office suite) now works perfectly for me.

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

September 9, 2010

Technology Tips: Make Your Droid Battery Last Longer, Part II

by AJ George

Sprint EVO Last week I covered a couple ways to ensure that you get as much life as possible out of your Droid's battery. This week I bring you a few more battery saving tips.

Monitor What's Using Your Battery

By choosing Settings > About Phone > Battery > Battery Use you can monitor what exactly is eating up your battery life. If your Display percentage is higher than your Android System percentage, you should definitely consider turning down your screen brightness. You can do this by using the Power Control widget mentioned last week or by selecting Settings > Display > Brightness. Disable Automatic brightness and slide the Brightness level as far down as you can while still being able to comfortably see what's on your screen. Disabling the Android Live Wallpaper (by simply selecting a static wallpaper) will also save some battery. Personally I enjoy watching grass sway in the breeze (and it only uses up 2% of my battery) so I leave it be.

Forget 4G (Sometimes)

The penny pincher in me never wants to disable my 4G since I am being forced to pay extra for it every month. But leaving it running gobbles up the battery. Often there is not even a 4G network available and your phone will drain the battery just searching for one. For this reason, I only use 4G when I want to optimize web surfing or download speeds. To turn off 4G, choose Settings > Wireless & networks and disable 4G. If you are running a 3G phone, abide by this same principle and use 2G instead (unless you really need the performance boost).

Cache Out

Many applications leave cached data on your phone that you don't necessarily need. One such app is the Task Killer mentioned last week. To clear these caches, choose Settings > Applications > Manage applications. Select each application listed and if there is a pushable Clear cache button in the Cache area, go ahead and push it to clear the cache.

More Battery Saving Tips

Going to full versions of websites on your phone will use up more battery. Most sites have a mobile version that can be accessed (typically by adding "m." or "mobile." to the front of the site name) that will use less of your battery to load.
When your phone is hot, it eats up more battery. Keep your phone out of direct sunlight and avoid using the phone if it is warm to the touch. Or, perhaps, you could show your phone you really care and put some clothes on it. Or maybe not.
I have not tried them, but I've heard good things about downloading the apps APNdroid and Locale to conserve battery life. APNdroid will turn off certain networks when you aren't using them. Locale allows you to specify how your phone's setting should be adjusted for different circumstances (like when you're sleeping or at work vs everyday use).

Do you have any other battery saving tips? Share them in the comments below.

Note: Image above courtesy www.sprint.com.

Click here for Part I of Tips to Make Your Droid Battery Last Longer.

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."